New York seeks extended budget to avoid shutdown as deadline passes

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - New York lawmakers on Monday may vote to extend the state’s lapsed budget as they continue negotiating with Governor Andrew Cuomo days after the deadline for a new spending plan passed.

The state was supposed to have a budget at the start of its fiscal year 2018 on Saturday. Cuomo said late on Sunday that he would send a so-called extender budget to the legislature to last through May 31, without which state employees would stop getting paid and government would shut down.

The state Assembly is “having productive talks with our partners in government” and “prepared to pass a temporary budget extender should one be necessary to avoid a shutdown of government while we resolve these issues,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement on Sunday night.

Cuomo said leaders of both houses had assured him they could pass the extender by Monday afternoon, the deadline to keep government fully functioning.

The budget is delayed in part by debate over raising the age of adult criminal responsibility to 18, which would leave North Carolina as the only state to automatically prosecute and imprison 16- and 17-year-olds as adults regardless of the crime.

“There are political and ideological differences between the Senate and Assembly. We must resolve these issues. A complete budget requires it,” Cuomo, who supports lifting the age, said in his statement.

Lawmakers and Cuomo have been divided over other issues, including a replacement for a now-expired program that gives tax breaks to affordable housing developers and extending a so-called millionaire’s tax on wealthy New Yorkers.

Cuomo also laid some blame on uncertainty about Washington’s policies, including any revised effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, which could strip New York of at least $4.6 billion of Medicaid and other funding.

“New York State is a target for hostile federal actions ranging from severe financial cutbacks to deprivation of legal and personal rights,” said Cuomo, a Democrat and possible 2020 presidential candidate.

The “looming threats” from Washington mean New York must either craft a budget deal that anticipates the state’s full financial needs or strike a deal on its own issues while remaining “financially cautious so we can adapt to federal actions once they are determined.” (Reporting by Hillary Russ; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) )